This invention generally relates to the field of user interfaces and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for controlling a computing device.
Recent advances in computing power and related technology have fostered the development of a new generation of powerful software applications. Gaming applications, communications applications, and multimedia applications have all benefited from increased processing power and clocking speeds. Despite these recent advances, however, the user interface for most computing systems dates back nearly thirty (30) years, i.e., utilizing a keyboard and pointing device to interface with and control certain aspects of the computing environment. These user interface devices are often cumbersome and non-intuitive at best, and may well lead to repetitive motion injuries and are unusable by a significant population of potential computer users at worst. While inconvenient and non-enabling in a desktop environment, such conventional user interface devices may well be dangerous in a mobile, handheld environment.
Despite these problems, many of the conventional mobile computing platforms, e.g., personal digital assistants (PDA), electronic books (or, eBooks), portable communication devices (cell phones, pagers, and the like), portable gaming appliances, and the like inherited similar user interface devices. That is, these mobile computing devices typically rely upon manual buttons, touchscreens, trackpads, trackballs and other traditional pointing devices to control the state of the device and/or the display of content generated by an application. As in the case of the desktop systems, these user interface devices are typically cumbersome to varying degrees as they often require two hands to operate (e.g., touchscreens, trackpads, and trackballs), or do not provide a simple way to control the state of an application and/or the display of content generated within an application.
Thus, a method and apparatus for controlling a computing system is presented, unencumbered by the deficiencies and limitations commonly associated with the prior art.
A method and apparatus for controlling a computing system is presented. In accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, a handheld computing device is introduced comprising a motion detection sensor(s) and a motion control agent. The motion detection sensor(s) detect motion of the computing device in one or more of six (6) fields of motion and generate an indication of such motion. The motion control agent, responsive to the indications of motion received from the motion sensors, generate control signals to modify one or more of the operating state and/or the displayed content of the computing device based, at least in part, on the received indications.